Most memorable were the last 2 minutes of the 5th round when Holloway landed a two-punch combo and proceeded to stare at the commentary team sitting cage-side and talk to them, while effortlessly dodging Kattar's strikes and yelling 'I'm the best boxer in the UFC!' to him.ĭespite fighting back to the best of his abilities, Kattar got steam-rolled by “The Blessed Express” that night in Abu Dhabi. 445 landed strikes and 5 rounds later a battered Kattar lost via unanimous decision to Holloway, who set several UFC striking records in this Fight of the Night. While Allen isn’t going to replace Aldo, Holloway recognizes the talent the ascending fighter from the United Kingdom possesses, and fully understands the position he’s in, having been there before himself.Aiming at another run for the title, Max “Blessed” Holloway, first had to meet “The Boston Finisher”, Calvin Kattar, in the octagon in January 2021 on Fight Island. The only one that might top that one - it isn’t an opponent, but it would be if I was able to go home and fight in Aloha Stadium some time.” I think it’s gonna be hard to top that one. “It was amazing to go out there and have a fight with him twice, one of them in Rio that’s insane. “Maybe if we run it back with Conor (McGregor) - and I see him saying he wants to come back and do whatever, so we’ll see what happens - but for me, it’s always going to be Jose Aldo he’s a living legend. “Jose Aldo, and I don’t think it’s going to change, ever,” he said when asked about his own “biggest fight of my career” moment. That’s what happens when you’re destined for the UFC Hall of Fame, and the veteran standout understands it and welcomes it, because he was in that position once before, as well. There is an interesting duality to Saturday main event pairing as it pertains to Holloway, because while the former champion enters looking to remind everyone that he hasn’t gone anywhere, he also remains the “biggest fight of my career” for everyone that stands across from him inside the Octagon, including Allen this weekend. We’d been in the UFC quite some time, and for us to get matched up at that point of our careers, it was a long time coming.” “With the Yair fight, that was a fight that was inevitable,” continued Holloway. I don’t know what happened that night - maybe the man possessed me because it felt good to be in there. “The ABC moment (against Calvin Kattar) was huge, and that night, I remember having pictures of me next to Muhammad Ali because it was his birthday (the next day). “We’ll see what happens, but I’ve had these moments and I enjoy these moments. in there, ‘Y’all Musta Forgot!’” he said when asked about his ability to thrive in these types of matchups. “That’s the motto for this fight - ‘I’m still here!’ - with maybe a little Roy Jones Jr.

View Holloway's Athlete Profile | Featherweight Rankings Ten months later, he outworked Yair Rodriguez over five entertaining rounds, earning scores of 49-46 and 48-47 twice to collect a unanimous decision victory. In the first main event of the year, he styled on Calvin Kattar, boxing up the New England Cartel representative, taking some time during the fifth round to chat with the commentary team seated next to the cage while continuing to evade punches and land crisp, punishing shots of his own.

Though he’s come up short in recent championship outings, he’s also excelled in the exact type of fight that sits before him on Saturday: a pairing with an up-and-coming hopeful looking to beat him as a means of catapulting themselves into title contention.Īfter suffering consecutive close defeats to Volkanovski in their first two encounters, Holloway used a pair of outings in 2021 to show everyone that he was still very much a menacing presence and miserable matchup for anyone with championship ambitions in the 145-pound weight class. I turn 32 at the end of this year, and we got a lot of time left.”įebruary marked the start of Holloway’s 12th year on the roster, and January was the 10-year anniversary of his victory over Will Chope in Singapore, which kicked off the lengthy winning streak that eventually carried him to the top of the division and superstar status in the UFC. Rushmore of MMA fighters, hopefully I can get my face on it because we still got a lot more. MORE UFC KANSAS CITY: Fighters On The Rise | Backwards Is Not An Option For Chris Gutierrez | How TJ Brown Stays Hungry | Edson Barboza Is Ready For The Energy | Royval Brining Chaos And Peace “I’m glad I’m able to do that, we’re able to have that, and those are the goals,” continued Holloway, who fights for the first time since suffering a third consecutive championship loss to Alexander Volkanovski last July at UFC 276. But family isn’t the only motivating factor for the 31-year-old standout.

Max holloway muhammad ali